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Some people wonder whether there is life after death but they often ignore the more pressing question of whether there is life before death... Yeshua said, "I am come so that people may have life, and that may have it abundantly" (John 10:10). So are you really alive? In its truest sense, teshuvah (i.e., repentance) isn't so much about turning away from sin as it is turning to the light, embracing reality, and being entirely honest with ourselves. The Greek word "metanoia" (μετάνοια) conveys a similar idea - going "beyond" (i.e., meta: μετά) our everyday thinking (i.e., nous: νοῦς) to apprehend the realm of the sacred, the superlative wonder of existence, and the blessing of life. Metanoia means getting outside of your head, losing your dead habits, and forsaking your unthinking assumptions to experience "all things new." Wisdom is grounded in humility, which is rooted in the awareness of our own biases and ignorance. When we become conscious of just how fleeting and sacred our lives are, our personal relationships will be transformed and we will begin to sense the sacredness of our time together. "Any time you are with anyone or think of anyone you must say to yourself: I am dying and this person too is dying, attempting the while to experience the truth of the words you are saying. If every one of you agrees to practice this, bitterness will die out, harmony will arise" (de Mello). Amen. The sages say, "Repent one day before you die." But who knows the day of one's death in advance? Perhaps your name will be called today, ending your lease on life in this world. Are you ready? Are you prepared to appear before your Creator to account for your life (Rev. 22:12)?
"Find God or die..." (Deut. 30:19). We cannot choose not to choose; we cannot "opt out" of our sacred responsibility to live before God. Every human being faces the holy dilemma, and there is no way to avoid the "either/or" by attempting to somehow unite heaven and hell. Spiritually this means that we must learn to "choose to choose," since denying the power of our choice (e.g., by rationalizing, blaming others, playing the victim) means forsaking our identity as a soul made in the image of God, and this results in being inwardly "disfigured" and fragmented...
The Spirit of God cries out, bacharta ba'chayim! - "Choose life - that you may live!" This commandment [i.e., choosing life] is not too hard for you; nor is it beyond your reach: it is very near you - as close as your breath and as near as your heart (Deut. 30:11-14). You must "choose life," which which implies that is your personal responsibility to believe in the Reality of God, to trust in his providential care for your life, to affirm that "all is well and all manner of thing shall be well" for you, and to understand that your present struggle is designed by heaven to help you grow in grace and the knowledge of the truth (1 Pet. 3:16). All things work for our good (Rom. 8:28) and therefore "choose life" both in happier moments when all goes well, but also (and especially) in the midst of your afflictions, in the panting of your heart for deliverance, in the loneliness of your heartache, and in the lament of your soul over the pain of your sins. Faith courageously refuses the messages of fear, silences angry voices of this world, and resists the idols of the age that offer spurious respite from the struggle at hand... "If we live by the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25). When you ask God to help you choose life, what are you doing if you are not asking God to grant you the ability to believe in the miracle of love? Choosing life involves the surrender of your heart and your will to the promise of God, choosing to receive the blessing of the Divine Presence – his word, his promise, and his healing – and resolutely deciding to live in light of that hope today. Dear friend, may you choose life this very hour...
Hebrew Lesson
Deut. 30:19b reading (click):
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